just curious: what would you consider to be the coolest sponsor you have seen on a race car. for me, i would go with penthouse magazine sponsoring randy hannagans sprinter and for stock cars i would say save selinsgrove speedway on kirk shelmerdines car at pocono. what are your thoughts?

rudedog wrote:just curious: what would you consider to be the coolest sponsor you have seen on a race car. for me, i would go with penthouse magazine sponsoring randy hannagans sprinter and for stock cars i would say save selinsgrove speedway on kirk shelmerdines car at pocono. what are your thoughts?

While not technically a "sponsor", a friend of mine takes great glee in recounting the adventure of his buddy Tommy and "a bunch of hippy gearheads" in the late 60s or early 70s fielding a car at the local asphalt short track stock car races in a car which had its hood painted with a portrait of Frank Zappa. The rest of the crowd and competitors at that track at the time were of the flat-top, "red neck, white socks and Blue Ribbon beer" sort of vibe, and I'm told that there was at least one bit of "culture clash" involving large wrenches in the pits.

Many years later (mid 80s), my friend took me to Tommy's garage on the south side of Chicago. The outside looked like the place would soon collapse, but I was shocked to see that behind the decrepit facade of rotting wood on the doors, there was a thick layer of steel - looked like armor plate. Apparently, one of the former tenants in years past was a Mr. A. Capone, who used the facility for "delivery trucks". The race car was long gone, but the hood with Zappa's face glaring out was proudly hung on the wall. Tommy is also a licensed Gyrocopter mechanic. Definitely an interesting character.

I wish I could have been there when they ran that car!

Q: How is Central PA different from the Old West?
A: In Central PA, the Outlaws try to catch The Posse!

John Beckey's No. 118 Early Mod at Silver Spring. His car was sponsored by an adult book store in Steelton. On the side of Beckey's car he had "Powered by Porn." That car always made me laugh. Steve Bubb